What Katrina Taught Us, But We Didn’t Learn…Until Now
Guest Blogger and C3L Associates Team Member, Alex Rohlwing, writes about what the Disaster Response Community has been missing since hurricane Katrina, but now has the tools to fix.
The first heroic acts in any disaster come from those first on the scene. But those responders, and their families, are victims of the same disaster as the community members they are called upon to help. This often creates an unbearable conflict between a duty to one’s profession – law enforcement, firefighting, emergency medical care, or any other first response role requiring an individual to leave home during a crisis – and an overwhelming concern for family, home, and neighbors. To be at their best, first responders need to know their families are safe and secure well before any disaster strikes. This need is well known, but rarely addressed. We propose a unique solution, and one for which the disaster response community already has the required tools and systems.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a surge of research and news reports documented the extreme stress placed on first responders caused by disasters in their communities. In the after action reviews performed by many organizations, a pattern of first responder stress associated with concern for their families and homes was nearly universal. At the time suggestions were made for providing specialized support for responders’ families to reduce the various burdens associated with disaster relief response. It is now widely understood within the emergency and disaster management community that first responders face an especially high level of stress when responding to disasters affecting their homes and communities. However, planning and implementing support efforts to address these issues have fallen short for the most part, with only scattered successes. Counseling services and mutual aid from unaffected regions are useful solutions, but they are reactive. What we have witnessed is the need for more effective proactive measures to reduce stress on first responders while they are aiding their communities. These measures will help reduce burnout and maintain a more effective response force.
In our own efforts responding to Hurricane Irma, and through contacts in the Houston, Texas area during Harvey, C3L Associates noted a major missing piece in the proactive support of first responders: designated shelter sites and effective services for their families. While shelter sites are frequently set up in response to disasters, C3L found no areas in which facilities or programs specifically designated and established for first responders’ families were provided.
We believe this is caused by two main factors: a lack of foreknowledge of this need by emergency planners, and a lack of clear guidance on how to implement this solution.
While other options for providing shelter and security to first responders’ families in a disaster are available, C3L sees the current implementation of Special Needs Shelter Sites as a ready template for providing protection to responders’ loved ones and peace of mind to the men and women on the front lines of serving their community.
Special Needs Shelters are an especially supported practice in the hurricane-prone state of Florida, which has significant geriatric and medically fragile populations. The fundamental difference C3L sees is that outreach, education, registry, and accountability must take place early in planning special needs shelter sites. While some first responders’ family members have special medical, physical, or mental health needs that must be addressed in planning, the general needs of First Responder Family Shelters will not be as resource-intensive as Special Needs Shelters, but can use similar principles and practices in outreach, planning, and implementation.
In the state of Florida, best practices in emergency planning for ESF-8 (the medical and public health Emergency Support Function) currently include programs for outreach to special needs communities. This outreach informs them about their nearest emergency shelter site, gathers information on what needs they have (specialized medical equipment, mental health, prescription medications, etc), collects emergency contacts, and, crucially, ensures they have transportation to these specially equipped sites.
C3L sees the Florida system as being readily adaptable in providing services to first responders’ families. These could include distributing education on specially designated shelter sites, collecting contact information for families, developing a roster and check-in system, and ensuring transportation is coordinated for those who need it. Connecting with a group, educating them on resources available, and obtaining critical emergency information is usually a challenging and expensive task. This would all be significantly easier with the immediate families and dependents of first responders, as they are already connected with their local, county, state, and federal governments, and disaster response communities. Distributing information to, and coordinating services for this population would be far simpler than with many others as consolidated identification and contact means are already established. There is no logistical reason this potentially life-saving solution cannot be implemented.
Here’s how it works:
An appropriate number of shelter sites would be designated specifically for the immediate families and dependents of an area’s first responders. These sites would be designed and constructed in advance of foreseen disaster events (like hurricanes or major snow storms), or rapidly for sudden events (like earthquakes or fires). Having done so, these families could evacuate early, if possible, since first responders are needed well before an actual disaster strikes, and usually long after. And they need to know their families are safe as quickly as possible.
Educational materials and information on First Responder Family Shelters (FRFS) would be distributed to all applicable emergency workers, including fire, law enforcement, EMS, utility, administrative, and other critical personnel. They would then be able to enroll their families in the FRFS system. This system would help planners predict numbers and needs for sheltering families. The FRFS would also be a means to connect families, if desired, so they could support each other with transportation and other evacuation needs. They would also receive educational materials on the importance of evacuating early to reduce strain on shelters and local resources, and would be notified of their designated local shelter areas. And since some families are single-parent or both parents are first responders, the FRFS system would ensure children have guardians (other family or guardians designated by the responder parent) as needed. Any families with transportation or other needs would also be provided for.
At shelter sites families would check in upon their arrival. Responders then receive immediate notification of their families’ safety and location status, thus reducing psychological strain and resolving the conflict between the duty to serve and the duty to protect their loved ones. In this scenario, another advantage becomes apparent. Once safely relocated to the shelter sites, there will likely be among them a significant number of volunteers willing to assist in shelter site operations, thereby reducing the staffing needs. They can also be trained beforehand to serve specific roles.
While extensive, pre-planning and training are vital to have these systems in place well before any disaster strikes. Every major disaster provides examples of the heroism demonstrated by first responders in individual communities. Yet, with each heroic act come examples of the challenges they face as their own families are at risk or in danger.
This FRFS system can be adapted and expanded in a variety of ways. Volunteer corps to help secure responders’ homes against storms, flooding, or other natural disaster events; pre-designating staging sites and camps for out-of-area and mutual aid resources; and greater integration of groups like Medical Reserve Corps and CERT can all further reduce the burden on the first response community.
The most powerful new force multiplier in our evolving world is technology, especially mobile Apps. To best support a needed concept like FRFS requires the use of these new technologies. C3L is pioneering the disaster preparedness and response App space with its ARDVARC App and is already developing an App for FRFS. Register Here for more updates on this critical need and how C3L is working to fill it.
C3L believes the FRFS system is an essential first step in addressing the long overlooked challenge of supporting first responders in disaster situations. Let’s help the men and women who sacrifice so much to serve their communities every day, and sacrifice even more during catastrophes.
Alex Rohlwing is a disaster recovery and conflict resolution professional whose work and academics focus on coordination between people and organizations in disaster response, gender in humanitarian aid and conflicts, and experiential education. He has worked domestically with the Alachua County Health Department’s Medical Reserve Corps and Health Department Emergency Planner in Florida, as well as internationally, supporting medical aid and development efforts in Haiti and Nicaragua.